Dell Studio XPS 1340/1640 now available for purchase on Dell's site !!!

[Wolfpup]

Still in boxing. It sure takes Dell a long time to carry it over to a box

How many others had thier 1640 in testing for multiple days? That has me a bit concerned, but I know at least one other person did. Maybe it's not as bad as it sounds, and it was just waiting, not that it failed....

Overwriting data multiple times is not the "Bare minimum" but imbecility and a waste of time.
(Want to know more? Secure deletion: a single overwrite will do it)

That's incorrect, and a bad myth to spread. Check Steve Gibson's info at GRC.com for more if you want to. Writing over data once with zeros would do nothing to stop someone with the proper tools from retrieving the entire drive. The data being written HAS to be pseudo-random or it's worthless, and it probably needs to be done several times (though the government standard is probably overkill).

I might do that once the price of the drive goes down. Would this SSD be sufficient for now? I've been doing some research and last year's MLC technology doesn't seem too bad. Its write speeds are kind of slow compared to the conventional hard drives, but it seems like it'll do for the time being I hope. I want the computer to last for a few years so I'd preferably want to have it built with the latest technology so there's some futureproof aspects to it. I'd be interested to hear from those who got the SSD what model it is! Thanks!

I think that $200 card's been over for a while, and it seemed like it ended sooner than it was supposed to.

Personally the only MLC drive I'd want to risk is Intel's. It seems like all the others are really slow, and not very reliable.

Which makes me wonder about the drives used in the Mini 9. They've got to be MLC presumably, and I wonder how they actually hold up to running Windows... (or if they're standard sized and can be replaced for that matter).

[Cin']

Get m1330, i'd say.

Thanks for the advice. I think in my gut I want the 1340 for its technology but I'm not sure why the 1340 weighs so much more. I would have thought with things like the SSD and LED screen, it would lighten it a bit. As it stands right now, it's a pretty heavy 13'' computer. I'm coming from a 3.8 pound tablet computer so I'm pretty mobile and the 1330's weight matches the tablet's. I take it to med school classes everyday. Perhaps the weight takes into account charger??

I think you should get the 1330, but thats my opinion...There are some superb deals at the Outlet right now!


Cin

[theguac]

I think you should get the 1330, but thats my opinion...There are some superb deals at the Outlet right now!


Cin

Still in boxing. It sure takes Dell a long time to carry it over to a box

How many others had thier 1640 in testing for multiple days? That has me a bit concerned, but I know at least one other person did. Maybe it's not as bad as it sounds, and it was just waiting, not that it failed....



That's incorrect, and a bad myth to spread. Check Steve Gibson's info at GRC.com for more if you want to. Writing over data once with zeros would do nothing to stop someone with the proper tools from retrieving the entire drive. The data being written HAS to be pseudo-random or it's worthless, and it probably needs to be done several times (though the government standard is probably overkill).



I think that $200 card's been over for a while, and it seemed like it ended sooner than it was supposed to.

Personally the only MLC drive I'd want to risk is Intel's. It seems like all the others are really slow, and not very reliable.

Which makes me wonder about the drives used in the Mini 9. They've got to be MLC presumably, and I wonder how they actually hold up to running Windows... (or if they're standard sized and can be replaced for that matter).

Definitely call; my final price was over $150 cheaper than the quote I got on the EPP website. Rep didn't offer the $200 gift card, but when I gave him the item number, he added it. Item number was 467-2822. Not sure if it's still valid, but give it a shot. Good luck.

Thanks for the help! Wow, this has become a harder decision now finding out the SSD will be slower than anticipated and with more votes for the 1330. I'll try to call and see what discounts can be applied for both computers. I read a post about how to go about asking for discounts on the phone. Did you all just follow that list...ie. go through every upgrade and ask what they can do for you. I'd be interested if anyone has a extension # for a nice rep if you have it! PM me if you do =). Thanks again!

[Wolfpup]

Thanks for the help! Wow, this has become a harder decision now finding out the SSD will be slower than anticipated and with more votes for the 1330. I'll try to call and see what discounts can be applied for both computers. I read a post about how to go about asking for discounts on the phone. Did you all just follow that list...ie. go through every upgrade and ask what they can do for you. I'd be interested if anyone has a extension # for a nice rep if you have it! PM me if you do =). Thanks again!

Here's my two cents for no apparent reason. Honestly I'm not sure which I'd get if it were me. The CPU difference won't be that major. The GPUs aren't all that much different (theoretically the 1340 could be better if SLI is actually working, but that's an if and it's still not great). I'd rather have an Intel chipset on the 1330, but on the other hand there were those issues with the last generation GPUs...although presumably not with the ones that Dell is still shipping in new systems.

So...I don't know. If the 1340 had Blu Ray it would be an easy decision!

[LexusForever]

Keep in mind m1330 has 4cell battery, 1340 will have 6 cell.

No, m1330 comes with a 6 cell battery as a minimum (at least on the Canadian website), and there's an option for a 9 cell battery too.

[LexusForever]

has the xps 13 only got 2 usb ports?

Yes, only 2 USB ports, and one of them is a shared eSATA/USB port.

[Wolfpup]

I'm a tad confused about how that shared thing works. I guess it's cool it has eSATA though. (That doesn't accept normal SATA connection though, does it?) Hopefully it's easy to use it with USB.

[LexusForever]

Hm, interesting. Is the 256 gig SSD that comes with the 1330 also of the slower type? How slow are these SSD's? Slower than a comparable 7200 rpm hard drive? I need fast hdd access speeds for what I do or I'll go nuts with frustration!

Speed-wise SSD is comparable to a good 7200rpm drive, so it's your choice. I would choose a smaller capacity SSD, like 128 or even 64 for longer battery life and because it doesn't have any spinning parts, but if the speed is the only concern, then go with the 7200rpm, they are still faster.

[LexusForever]

I'm a tad confused about how that shared thing works. I guess it's cool it has eSATA though. (That doesn't accept normal SATA connection though, does it?) Hopefully it's easy to use it with USB.

The little "e" in eSATA means External. So, of course, it's a port to connect external hard drives. It is shared with USB, meaning that you can plug either an USB cable or eSATA cable into that same port (not 2 cables at the same time, but 1 at a time, lol).

[Cossack7V7]

Speaking of the Studio XPS 13, any word on what GPU the Dell Adamo is going to be using? Will it use the same hybrid graphics (GeForce 9400M G + GeForce 9200M GS)?

The Dell Adamo was shown at CES, but the specifications were not revealed for some reason.